25-July-2002
ANDREA: two more weeks two more weeks two more weeks two more weeks two
more--
READWOLF: Chanting will not make the time go by any quicker.
ANDREA: {glares and continues chanting}
READWOLF: Fine, while you're chanting away, trying to make you class end
quicker, *I'm* going to post another part.
ANDREA: {continues chanting}
A Matter of Heart: Heirs to the Legacy
By: Andrea Readwolf
Email:
Rating: YA/Mature
Families: YMC Fam (Yuy-Maxwell-Chang Family: Trinity, Mara Jade,
and Dylan);
Winner Fam (Quatre + Trowa, Triton&Tristan, and little sis
Calista)
Peacecraft Family (Zechs Marquise/Milliard + Lucrezia/Noin
Peacecraft,Kit/Katarynna, Adrian, and Nicolette/Nicole)
Mazzolla Family (Mariemeia + Jake Mazzolla {OC}, Julian)
Catalonia-Dorian Family (Dorothy Catalonia + Relena Dorian,
Regina)
Une-Po Family (Lady Une + Sally Po, Marie Une*, Michael Braddocks,
Mark Braddocks, Matthew Braddocks)
Pairings: Trinity + Adrian, Mara Jade + Tristan, Kit + Triton (hoped
for), Calista + Dylan (hinted at)
plus: 1+2+3+4+5
Archive: Yes-- www.gwaddiction.com
Warnings: The following story contains scenes that are humorous,
sappy,fluff, with Incoherence, random PoV switching, and
Sexual innuendos abound.
Original Characters are presented; all characters are IC according to
the author's interpretation of them. Mainly heterosexual
situations, with hints of YAOI and YURI.
Spoilers: Previous Matter of Heart Series Arc stories: "Dance of the
Heart" Arc and "Oh Baby, Baby" Arc. Built off of "Traditions".
Feedback: C&C is always welcomed and adored.
Acknowledgements: There have been some wonderful people who have
made my sojourn in GW-fanfiction more than just enjoyable and have
inspired me to write, write, and write some more. Thank you.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belong to Bandai, Sunrise
and Sotsu Agency and are only being used for non-profit entertainment
purposes. References to printed texts, films, sitcoms, musical
pieces, and/or other fanfictions don't belong to the author either.
Original Characters, including but not limited too, the Berh
Siblings, Jake Mazzolla and "the chibis", are original and hence, the
author's own creation.
Notes: This is the story of the children, the nine children of the 6
gundam pilots (Heero--Zechs) plus the grandchild of Treize
Khushrenada. This story will not focus primarily on the characters
from the series, but rather, the generation after them. This story is
not for all die-hard fans, but runs along the lines of a more
original piece.
Additional Note: 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 often times refer to each other as
"husband"; please refer back to "Promise of the Rings" Part 15 if this
causes confusion.
Additional Note 2: The chibis often times refer to their parents'
friends and partners as "Uncle" or "Aunt"--in this case, the
term is used simply as one of respect since, with the exception
of Kit & Adrian's relation to Relena and all of Quatre's sisters,
none of the parents have siblings.
***These stories and the ideas contained within are copyright of the author. No reprinting or posting without permission of said author. ***
~ After Dinner, September 227AC~
"You're what!"
Dylan looked wide-eyed at his sister, who was swinging, calmly as could be, on the porch bench swing.
"It's not big deal, Dylan. Women have babies all the time."
"Yeah... yeah, but--what did Dad say?"
"Which one?"
"All of them!"
"Oh, you know, the usual."
Dylan looked at her, waiting for her to go on. She didn't, so Tristan, who just so happened to be sitting next to her holding her hand, did. "You're dad wanted to kill me; Wufei said we were old enough to handle our own responsibilities accordingly, and Heero did a lot of 'Hn, hn, and hn.' before telling me my Dad wanted to talk to me."
"Oh man!" Dylan's cobalt blue eyes grew larger as he looked at the from under messy brown bangs. "What did Uncle Quatre say?" the boy asked in a hoarse whisper.
"Oh, you know, the usual," Tristan shrugged. "'How could you be so careless? What did you think you were doing? This will cause such a backlash--you better take care of this before the media finds out.'"
Mara Jade looked at him, shocked. On her other side, Triton had heard all of this before and wasn't very surprised--hadn't he tried to tell her the same thing? Julian, who had come in with Dylan, looked down right embarrassed to be there, and he tried his best to blend in with the shadows on the porch. Dylan just continued to stare open mouthed at his sister and her... his... their. well, Tristan.
"'Take care of this,'" Mara Jade repeated icily. "And just how does he think you should 'take care of this'?" Indigo eyes blazed with a temper only barely held in restraint.
"Oh, you know," Tristan drooled casually. "Marry you, make a big press release, and then drop you into a big dark hole where the media will never find you."
Mara Jade pushed out of the swing angrily. Triton tried to grab her, but was too late. Tristan had already dragged her over into his lap, locking his arms around her waist, as he continued, "To which I replied, all decisions are in your most capable hands." He smiled and raised said hands up to his lips. "Whatever you want, we'll do it."
Mara Jade blinked, staring at him incredulously.. And then she settled down against his chest as if it were the most normal thing in the word and dared anyone to say something about it. After all, she wasn't going to complain about having things her way.
"So," Zechs began, casually enough as he, Duo, and Wufei cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher--such a menial task that he hadn't accomplished in he wasn't sure how many years. And not for the first time did the blond man wonder why his three friends refused to hire a service staff or even a single maid. "Mara Jade's pregnant."
"Yep." Duo handed him a wet plate and Zechs found a spot for it among the others.
"And Tristan's the father?" The doubt must have shown in his voice because Duo smiled a little.
"To hear them tell it," the longhaired braided man answered.
"I don't know whether I'm more surprised that she's pregnant or that he's the father," Zechs admitted, moving to wash his hands clear of soapsuds.
"Yes, it was quite a shock," Wufei commented, putting the last of the leftovers away.
"Trini and Adrian, well, that was always kinda a given," Zechs said, accepting the coffee Duo poured him. "I would have been more surprised if they hadn't gotten engaged. But Mara Jade and Tristan--?"
"A love-hate relationship, I'm sure," Wufei sighed. "I think Heero and Trowa were the only ones NOT surprised."
"Quatre pretty much flipped a lid," Duo admitted, grinning evilly.
"Hn." He could just imagine the other blond man when the news reached him. "So what do you plan to do?"
"Do?" Wufei repeated. "We plan to do nothing."
Zechs looked stunned.
"This is Mara Jade's situation, her life," Duo answered. "She and Tristan need to deal with this on their own terms."
"You're handling this awfully well," Zechs told them, with no little hint of admiration. "I can't imagine what I would id if it was Kit who..."
Both men smiled, but only Duo replied, "Yeah, well, just be glad you weren't here last night."
How Mara Jade chose to deal with her pregnancy for the most part included a lot of ignoring facts. She ignored the fact that she was dating a son of WEI. She ignored the fact she was carrying a Winner baby. She even ignored the fact that she wasn't supposed to be enjoying the time she spent with Tristan.
Because she was and did. She probably would never admit it, but she was happiest when she was with him. That night of the dinner, she went home with Tristan and Triton. The next day, she went with Tristan to send Triton back off to space, back to work.
"Don't let them overwork you, now," Tristan said, slapping his older brother on the back, as he held on tight.
"Ch. I'm mostly supervising now, little bro," Triton replied, offering an extra tight squeeze. "You better hurry up and get your affairs in gear, or you might just find your portion of WEI won't be waiting for you."
The two brothers grinned identical expressions of knowing mischief on their faces.
"And you." Triton turned to Mara Jade, shimming her in a little mock twist. "You take extra good care of yourself, okay? Don't forget you're carrying my very first niece, all right?"
"So sure it's a girl, are you?" The dark haired woman-child smiled back at him.
"Yes." Softly, Triton touched her cheek, looking over her face. "A beautiful, healthy girl; as beautiful as her mother."
She didn't know why she did it, but Mara Jade leaned forward and up and gently pressed her lips to his. It was a chaste little kiss--with a powerful emotional punch behind it.
"Don't be such a stranger," she whispered, her voice a little hoarse when she pulled away into Tristan's arms.
"Things have a way of working out, Mara Jade," Triton told her. "Don't be too stubborn to accept the truth of things."
She didn't get a chance to ask him what he thought the truth of things was. She respected Triton a great deal. When she was younger, she thought she was in love with him. The mysterious older twin son of WEI. The calm, cool, collected intellectual one the world adored. The one she knew, in unguarded moments, could be a devious as his daredevil twin.
She knew better now. Yes, she loved Triton Raberba Winner--as any girl would love an older, idolized brother. Her childhood fancies were nothing but a schoolgirl's crush. It was the devious daredevil who she knew was really a closeted calm, cool, intellectual kind of guy that made her realize it. She'd tasted real love enough to realize that she wasn't in love with Triton Raberba Winner. She knew what it meant, what it felt like to be IN love. She knew because she loved-
Mara Jade gasped at the cool touch of the jelly against her abdomen. She looked at her doctor, who was looking at the monitor. Quickly her eyes darted over to Tristan, standing by her, holding her hand as if he could infuse her with his strength, his courage, with that one simple gesture. It always did. She looked back at the monitor, eyes more than a little misty as the doctor pointed out the curves that represented her baby. Tristan's baby. Their baby...
"It looks like you're well on your way to having a healthy baby--Do you want to know the sex?" Dr. Doce Behr asked.
Mara Jade smiled, squeezing Tristan's hand. "We already know; it's a girl."
Things changed. Mara Jade's being pregnant changed things. The youngest son of Quatre Winner was going to be a daddy.
His brother was right. It was time Tristan started putting things in gear. The first thing he did was apply--finally--for his degree. The hardest part there was deciding which degree he wanted first. Somehow, all the fields he'd been studying lead back to his share of WEI--which is what he did next: take another look at his third of the family company. The company was a well-oiled machine that could run itself without a problem. Little had changed in the five years he'd supposedly be eligible to take over his share of the company. Of course, he'd elected to go to college and stay there indefinitely instead of run WEI.
Quatre Winner had decided to split his company into three sections. These sections he then offered to his three children. Quite convenient how that worked out, really. There was the Executive Branch--the one that ran like a bank, funding projects, loaning out money here, donating to charities there, completely annihilating a competitor around the corner. This branch was going to his little sister, Calista. The girl really was quite cut out for it. The social butterfly at all the balls and banquets since the tender age of 9, when she had finally worn their father down into allowing her to attend, Calista could be a cutthroat when it came to making difficult decisions.
Next came the Medical Research Branch. Here, WEI supported research for cures to diseases and old age, and was even responsible for the handy dandy little project that had resulted in his being born. That project that allowed homosexual couples to combine their genes into a new genetic code, a new life. This was how he, his brother, his sister, and their 'cousins' were conceived. Triton was already in space, working with this branch.
The third branch was actually indirectly responsible for his fathers' meeting each other in the first place: the geographic or mining Branch. The branch that went beyond Earth and into the asteroid belt and discovered gundanium. The branch that dared Mars's climate and the deep reaches of space. The pioneer branch. And it was all his. He started making plans for the transfer. Come the New Year, he would be completely in charge of WEI Pioneer Mining.
But not till next year. He still wanted to finish off this semester at school, and see his best friend be married off before he became a respectable, responsible, mature adult. Besides, he still needed time to continue wooing Mara Jade.
Ah, now, there was a rut. He could tell that more and more she loved him. Even if she wouldn't say it, tell him out front with words, her actions said so in the twinkle of her eyes, the quirk of her lips, the tip of her jaw, and the angle of her face. It was the touch of her fingers, sliding through his, the brush of her legs, the tuck of her feet, the tiny sighs she let escape, and the tiny cries she didn't think to fake. More and more, she was opening up to him, and he was enjoying reading her. She was his favorite book; his favorite hobby and past time. He lived for Mara Jade. And their baby.
End Part 22
MARA JADE: {blinks} so--wait a minute. We're a couple now? {blinksblinks}
TRISTAN: We were *always* a couple... you just were too stubborn to admit
it.
DYLAN: I'm more interested in what's going on in space. {grinning} I can
just imagine Uncle Kat's face...
CALISTA: Don't! Don't go there! He's being *completely* unreasonable about
the whole thing!
TRISTAN: Are you sure it's not *you* who's being unreasonable?
CALISTA: {glaring} I'm supporting *you*, mister, you better be nice to me...
TRISTAN: Yes, my dearest, most wonderful, exalted sister.
CALISTA: You're mocking me... but I'll let it pass. This time.
TRISTAN: I'm surrounded by willful, dominating women...
ADRIAN: Sucks to be you!
TRINITY: Ooh, you're not going to wear *that* suit, are you?
TRISTAN: No, it sucks to be you. {smirks}
Andrea Readwolf
Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com